Recently, the discussion on the topic of chip manufacturing in my country has been very fierce. The main reason for the discussion is that in September, TSMC announced that it could mass-produce 3nm chips and is about to break through the 2nm technology.

In recent days, the discussion on the topic of chip manufacturing in my country has been very fierce. The main reason for the discussion is that in September, TSMC announced that it could mass-produce 3nm chips and is about to break through the 2nm technology. Almost at the same time, SMIC announced that the 55-nanometer CBD platform had completed the first round of research and development.

After the news came out, some people said that SMIC's 55nm process just broke through was a great news and worthy of pride, while others expressed their discomfort. After all, TSMC's current process has almost reached 2nm, and the gap between them seems very huge.

So the problem is. Some people say that 55nm is already a major breakthrough, while others say that it is a world of difference from 2nm. What is going on?

Before answering this question, you must first understand that TSMC's mass-produced 3nm chips and the 2nm chip technology that is about to break through are different processes with the CBD process announced by TSMC to reach 55nm, so the technical content between the two cannot be directly compared. Just like which one is 5nm mobile phone chip and 7nm computer chip has a higher process technology, and the results cannot be obtained directly through the data achieved on the surface.

From the market reaction after TSMC released relevant news, it can be seen that whether it is the 3nm chips on both sides or the 2nm technology that quickly breaks through, it is indeed the best in the world.

In an interview, TSMC said that it is still using FinFET transistors. When implementing the new generation of 2nm technology in the future, it may use GAA transistor technology, and it may rely more on EDA technology of US manufacturers.

Everyone in the industry knows that although EDA electronic design automation is not large in the semiconductor market, it plays an important role in the semiconductor market. From chip design to manufacturing, to chip packaging , it is inseparable from EDA. According to data, the semiconductor market affected by EDA in 2021 has exceeded US$600 billion. So far, TSMC has cooperated with 16 EDAs around the world. Once TSMC can obtain EDA's help in the future, it will be a big boom.

It should be known that this is a relatively ideal idea. The reality is that once TSMC is too dependent on the technology of American manufacturers, it is easy to fall into a passive position. TSMC breaks through 2nm chips and needs the support of the US EDA in the GAA process, and it is also technically dependent on the US. It is difficult for other manufacturers to replace it in the future. The dependence will increase as the technology continues to deepen.

. EDA's current global market is mainly controlled by the three major American manufacturers, Siemens EDA, Cadence, and Synopsys. The total share of the three companies exceeds 78%. Even if Keysight Technology and ANSYS share can reach nearly 5%, it is still an American company.

Then, the subsequent implementation of TSMC's 2nm technology is ultimately a long and arduous road and extremely uncertain, and this is ultimately the reason why technology cannot be independent.

The BCD platform announced by SMIC refers to "Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS". Bipolar is a bipolar transistor used to process analog signals with high precision. CMOS is usually used to design complementary metal oxide semiconductors for digital control circuits, which are commonly referred to as 5nm, 7nm and other chips; while DMOS is a dual diffused metal oxide semiconductor used to develop power supplies and high-voltage switch devices.

Simply put, BCD platform technology refers to a "mono-chip integration technology", that is, Bipolar, CMOS, and DMOS are used in the same chip production at the same time.

Before this, the advanced BCD technology was 90nm process, which my country has been able to achieve mass production. Now SMIC announced that it has achieved 55nm results in CBD process, which can be said to be a major technological breakthrough. And what is more certain is that SMIC's level of 55nm is currently in an international leading position.

For example, although South Korea's Key Foundry is also a leading round crystal foundry, just this year it was announced that it could achieve mass production of 188nm of CBD process, which is already a huge distance from SMIC.

has to admit that chip technology started late and its inability to be independent is also the biggest problem in my country at present. The EDA market is monopolized by international giants, scarce chip manufacturing equipment, and limited production capacity of some raw materials, which has become the "three hurdles" on my country's advanced chip development path.

Although there are many difficulties, in recent years, my country has been continuously deepening and improving in chip design, manufacturing and other fields. The industry scale has grown rapidly and new technologies have been continuously emerging, bringing hope for domestic chips to solve the "bottleneck" problem. I believe that in the near future, my country can achieve true chip freedom.